Accused
by luminosity45
Summary: Abby is in the ICU, in a coma, after being beaten and left for dead. Metro PD thinks Gibbs did it. Can Gibbs convince them, with the team's help, that he didn't do it? That he would never hurt Abby?
1. Where were you?

This storyline popped into my head and I couldn't get it out, so I wrote it down. Hope you like it. I'll update as I am able. A big thanks to Gottahavemyncis for previewing & editing this chapter.

Disclaimer: None of it is mine. Just shamlessly using the characters for my own amusement.

* * *

The elevator doors opened. A slight frown appeared on Gibbs' face as he realized he wasn't hit with the sound of the ear-splitting noise that Abby usually played. He refused to call it music. He held the usual morning Caf-Pow in hand. As he stepped through the Lab entrance he looked around and stopped. Abby's babies were up and running, the computers were on in the middle of a fingerprint search. Except for the missing music, all looked normal.

"Abs?" Gibbs called out as he stepped further into the lab, but had yet to spot Abby. Gibbs thought 'I wonder if she is wearing camouflage?' and smiled slightly at the thought of Abby wearing an outfit that blended with her lab. Suddenly he heard a small whimper coming from the inner lab.

He put the Caf-Pow on the lab bench and rushed toward the sound, "Abs!" Gibbs yelled with a slight hint of worry in his voice.

In the inner lab Abby was sitting on the floor in the far corner, knees pulled to her chest, arms wrapped around them, head bowed down. Abby suddenly realized Gibbs was there. She leaped up and yelled "Gibbs!" as she rushed toward him. Her makeup was smeared, she had a bruise forming under her right eye which was beginning to swell shut, her lower lip was swollen and bleeding, her hair was a mess, the right sleeve was torn and there was blood down the front of her t-shirt.

Gibbs rushed just as quickly toward Abby as soon as her appearance registered in his brain. "Abs! What happened?" he asked with a note of surprise and concern.

"Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs!" Abby exclaimed excitedly as she enveloped the agent in a huge bear hug. Where have you been! I've been waiting for you to arrive! Why'd you take so long? Don't ever leave me!" Abby kept repeating the same phrases over and over and over.

Gibbs just held her tightly. He wanted to check out her injuries, but knew it would be impossible while Abby was clinging to him so tightly. Gibbs kept Abby wrapped in his arm, responding with a whisper in her ear "I'm here Abs, I'll keep you safe." He kissed the top of her head and repeating the phrase again.

"I always feel safe with you, Gibbs" Abby finally said, stopping the mantra that had been pouring from her lips.

* * *

"I'll keep you safe."

That phrase came from his lips again just as he woke up.

"I know you will, Gibbs" the voice came from the other side of the bed as the sound of a body moving over, then the feel as that body snuggled up to him.

He was on his back, so he rolled onto his side, toward the snuggling body, said again "I'll keep you safe" as he wrapped his arms and pulled the women to his chest. He leaned into the hair that was cascading aroundher shoulders and deeply inhaled the scent that he always associated with her. He opened his eyes and saw the red hair, leaned down and smiled as his eyes locked with Shannon's. They shared a quick kiss. Gibbs pulled his wife in a bit tighter. She had a hand on his chest and was rubbing small circles.

"A nightmare?" Shannon asked.

"Something like that." Gibbs answered flatly then kissed his wife on the forehead.

"So, what are you going to keep me safe from?" Shannon smiled slyly, "'cause you know, I always feel safe with you Gibbs."

Gibbs pulled away slightly and looked at his wife with **a**sad, hurt look. He heard a knock on the door. "I'll keep you safe" he said once more.

* * *

The knocking got louder. Gibbs sat up suddenly on his couch "I'll keep you safe" poured from his lips. He took a second to look around and realize he was at home, on his couch. Then he recognized the dryness in his mouth, too much bourbon in the basement last night. That might explain the weird dreams.

The knock came again, this time followed by "Gibbs! You in there?"

"Yeah.A minute." Gibbs groaned, not loud enough to be heard, as he got up and strained his stiff joints. He walked gingerly over to the door, giving his muscles and joints as well as his brain time to catch up with the morning.

He reached his front door and opened it. "Detective Sportelli! You're up and about early for a Saturday morning."

"Been up since last night, Gibbs. Can I come in?" the Metro detective asked.

"What's this about?" Gibbs asked, narrowing his eyes at the man standing in front of him, getting more suspicious by the second. If it was about a Metro case that involved Navy or Marine personnel, he would have been contacted through dispatch. Was one of his team injured? "Is everyone OK?"

"Can I come in?" Sportelli asserted again.

Gibbs stepped aside from the door so the detective could enter. He closed the door after him. "Who?" Gibbs asked behind Sportelli as the man walked into the living room looking around.

"Sit down."

Gibbs was getting really worried now, "no, give it to me straight." He was up in Sportelli's face now. "One of my team?"

"Abby Sciuto."

"What? How? How bad?" Gibbs heart sunk as he remembered his dream. Abby was all beat up. He told he would keep her safe. He didn't.

He couldn't keep Shannon safe, what made him think he couldn't keep Abby safe. "Is she alive? Where is she?" Gibbs started to spring into action. He went toward his gun safe.

Sportelli grabbed Gibbs arm. Gibbs turned and glared at him. "Please Agent Gibbs, sit down. She's alive, but there's more."

Gibbs stopped. 'More?' he thought and nearly shuddered. Then he thought 'had Abby been with the rest of the team last night? Sometimes they'd go to Happy Hour on Friday, were more of them hurt?' Gibbs glared at the detective again. "Tell me!"

"Abby is in a coma. She is in ICU at GWU hospital center. She took a harsh beating. Officers responding to a 911 call found her in her apartment." Sportellihesitated a split second before he continued. "Gibbs, where were you last night."

"What?" Gibbs glared at Sportelli for a third time in less than a minute. The man was going to spontaneous combust soon if any more glares came his way.

"A man fitting your description was seen by neighbors leaving Abby's apartment just after midnight; we found a bottle of bourbon and a glass on her kitchen table that had your fingerprints on it." Sportelli paused, "You know this is just a formality, Gibbs."

"I was at the Navy Yard until 22:30, came directly home and spent the evening in my basement." Gibbs said flatly. "Can I go see Abby now?"

"Not yet Gibbs. What happened to your hands?"

Gibbs looked at his hands; he had some cuts and scratches on his hands. Gibbs smiled wryly. "You ever tried to work with hand tools after a few glasses of bourbon? This is what happens." Gibbs held up his hands.

"And the scratches on your face?"Sportelli pointed to the left side of Gibbs face and he spoke.

"What?" Gibbs reached to his face and felt a sting as his fingers brushed against what he knew was a scrape or scratch. Gibbs face turned white, then red. "You think I…." Gibbs couldn't even finish the sentence**;** he was flabbergasted but also angry. He got toe to toe with Sportelli. "You are out of your mind, Sportelli!" He was clenching his fists, trying to restrain himself from launching at the detective for even suggesting that he might have hurt Abby.

Sportelli took out his cell phone and played a recording.

"_911, what's your emergency" the Emergency dispatcher asked. _

_Abby's voice came next, "Gibbs. Gibbs! Gibbs!" a slight hesitation then a voice full of confusion, "Stop! Why're you attacking me?" _

_The sounds of a struggle came next. Abby screamed. "Gibbs!" then the sound of someone being beaten badly._

_A few minutes later, a door slammed. Then a few moans and groans then a barely audible, "Gibbs, why?" _

"Sounds like Abby was begging you to stop attacking her, but you kept it up until she was nearly unconscious. Then you left her for dead." Sportelli just looked at Gibbs waiting for him to say something.

Gibbs just glared back at Sportelli, "it wasn't me! Not sure why she was shouting my name, but it sure as hell wasn't me! I'd never hurt Abby."

"Yeah, you want to guess how many times a day I hear guilty people proclaim their innocence? Probably as often as you do, Gibbs. I need to take you downtown**;** we'll sort it out down there."

Gibbs was torn between resisting and going to see Abby and finding her attacker, or going with Sportelli. However, he knew the former would cause serious problems. He decided to go with Sportelli. "I'll go, but I am not happy about this! I need to see Abby." Gibbs growled.

"If we can clear you, you'll be on your way to see Abby in a little while."

"Have you contacted anyone else to let them know Abby is in ICU?" Gibbs suddenly stopped as the realization that Abby might be alone.

"Not yet."

"Lemme call someone to be with her." Gibbs half demanded, half pleaded.

"Sure. Who?"

"Gonna call Ducky. He can spread the word from there." Gibbs said, going over to grab his phone off the coffee table.

"Don't tell him about you going downtown. We need to question your team as well."

Gibbs turned and glared at Sportelli as he hit speed dial to call Ducky.

"Gibbs, I hope this is a social call, it is too beautiful a morning to be looking at death." Ducky said on the other end of the phone.

"Ducky! Abby is in a coma in ICU at GWU Hospital **C**enter. Can you go over to be with her? I'm with Detective Sportelli right now**;** he's working on a lead. Call the rest of the team and let them know."

"Of course, Jethro!" Gibbs hung up before Ducky could finish**.**

Sportelli had been on the phone himself. A knock at the door. Sportelli yelled 'come in!'

Two detectives entered.

"Frisk him." Sportelli commanded.

"Ah, not necessary." Gibbs smiled a half-smile.

"Yes it is. Would you let your agents take someone into custody without frisking them? Especially someone known to carry a knife and a gun?"

"Gun is in the safe" Gibbs pointed to the safe on the bookshelf, then turned and pointed to the coffee table "and the knife is on the coffee table."

"Humor us!"

The younger detective frisked Gibbs. "He's clean. Cuff him?"

"You gonna play nice, Gibbs?"

"If I wasn't gonna play nice, I'd already be gone, Sportelli."

"No need to cuff him. Gibbs promises to play nice."

"You better apologize to me when this is over." Gibbs growled as he passed the detective while following the junior detective.

"I thought you didn't believe in apologies, Gibbs?" Sportelli smiled as he followed behind Gibbs out the door.


	2. Questions

A/N - Thanks to all who have reviewed and signed up for story alerts after the first chapter. I really appreciate the feedback. A big thanks to Gottahavemyncis who reviews the story and gives some awesome suggestions!

* * *

Ducky arrived at the hospital and made his way to ICU. After a briefing on Abby's condition at the nurses' station, he was quickly directed to Abby's room. He could see her through the glass doors. His heart broke at the image that lay before him. Her face was swollen face, bruises were still forming, there was a bandage around her head, her lower lip was cut and there were IV tubes in her arm, she was intubated and a tracheal tube was was coming from her mouth. She looked so helpless and quiet. Nothing like the Abby he knew. He started toward the sliding door to enter her room. A hand on his arm stopped him. "I can't let you go in there yet, Doctor Mallard." Ducky turned in surprise toward the voice. He looked up into the face of a familiar metro Detective.

"Detective Hanley!" Ducky greeted the Metro detective. "Do you know what happened to our dear Abby?" The Metro detective nodded. Ducky's eyes searched the detectives face and saw a flash of something that quickly disappeared. He wasn't quite sure what it was.

"Abby was found in her apartment this morning by MPD after 911 received a call from her location. She was badly beaten. We found evidence at the scene that pointed to a suspect. Detective Sportelli is bringing him in for questioning now." Hanley had been instructed not to disclose that it was Gibbs who was the prime suspect right now.  
"Oh no!" the ME exclaimed. "Who on earth would ever hurt Abby? Although that explains why Gibbs isn't here. He's probably with Detective Sportelli. He'd want to make sure the dirt bag that did this was nailed to the wall." Hanley nodded, more out of habit to help keep someone talking while gathering information rather than actually agreeing with the Doctor.

"Could I ask you a few questions before you go in to see Abby?" Detective Hanley gently asked.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt. Abby is still in a Coma." Ducky looked back in at Abby, the pain he was feeling visible on his face.

"Let's go to a more private location, Dr. Mallard." Detective Hanley gestured toward the front of the ICU. "I have reserved one of the private family waiting rooms so we can have some privacy. The rest of team can use it when they arrive."

Ducky followed her, realizing she must have spoken to Gibbs, since she knew the rest of the team would be arriving. He noticed a uniformed officer quietly taking her place at the entrance to Abby's room. It saddened him that Abby needed police protection, yet he felt a bit assured that she would be protected.

They entered the small private room, usually reserved for families who desired privacy while waiting for a relative in ICU. There was a pitcher of iced water and several glasses, a stack of snack packages, and telephone on a small table in the corner, a couch and several chairs around the perimeter, and a small coffee table with magazines in front of the couch. "Please sit down, Dr. Mallard." Detective Hanley gestured to the couch as she walked over to the chair at a ninety degree angle to the couch. "Would you like a glass of water?"

The ME waved her off. "No Detective. I'll get a cup of tea later, thank you. What can I do to assist in your investigation?"

The detective waited for Ducky to sit down before she took a seat herself. She pulled out a notepad and pen from a pocket in her blazer. "Doctor Mallard, do you know of anyone who would want to hurt Ms. Scuito?"

"No!" Ducky exclaimed. "Everyone who comes in contact with Abby loves her instantly! I have no idea who might want to harm her."

"Could it be someone convicted based on evidence she processed, or testimony that she gave in court?"

"Ah, yes!" The Doctor came to the realization that Abby might indeed have some enemies. "That might be possible. But I know of no one specifically who had threatened her or was known to have a vendetta against her. If there was any threat, Gibbs would have done anything to make sure Abby was safe."

"What is the relationship between Ms. Scuito and Agent Gibbs?" Det. Hanley asked.

"Why? What do you mean, Detective? They are very good friends. Agent Gibbs takes a special interesting in watching out for Abby, as we all do. He would do anything for her if she asked. He would move mountains to protect her. The only reason he isn't here by her side, I'm sure, is that he wants to get the miscreant who hurt her."

Detective Hanley didn't look up from her notebook. She was afraid that her face might give something away. "Do you know if Ms. Scuito had any plans Friday evening? Was she meeting anyone? Have a date?"

"Abby had not shared her evening's plans with me. You may want to talk to either Mr. Palmer or the rest of Gibbs' team. She may have told one of them how she was planning to spend her evening."

"Thank You, Doctor Mallard. You should go be with Abby now. As the rest of the team arrives, I'll need to speak with them before they speak with you."

"I understand, Detective." There was sadness in his voice. It was hard to believe that one of the team was the subject of a police investigation. While they dealt with investigations every day, it was very different to be on the opposite end of one.

As Ducky left the room, DiNozzo burst through the entrance to ICU. He saw Ducky and rushed up to him, "Where is she? How is she? What happened?" He was in full panic mode, which was not good. Tony didn't handle 'panic mode' very well. His eyes were full of fear, he gripped Ducky's arms tightly, he couldn't stay still, and he wanted to do something, but didn't know what he could or should do.

"She is stable, Anthony. We won't know more until she is out of the coma. It could be hours or days. I only received a brief update from the Nurse at the nurses' station. I am still waiting for a briefing from the Doctor. You need to calm down," Ducky tried to reassure the near hysterical agent. "And please loosen your grip so I can get feeling back in my hands."

"Yeah, right Ducky. Sorry." DiNozzo calmed a bit after Ducky reassured him slightly, and released the death grip he had on Ducky's arms. "What happened to Abby? How did she end up in ICU?"

"She was attacked and beaten."

"What?" DiNozzo was shocked "Who? Who would do a thing like that to Abby? Who would risk bringing the wrath of Gibbs down on themselves by hurting Abby?" DiNozzo had a slight smile at the thought of Gibbs going all bad-ass on some fool who would even think about hurting Abby.

Just then Ziva and McGee entered the ICU and headed straight toward where DiNozzo and Ducky were standing.

"What happened? How is she?" McGee blurted out with the fear clearly heard in his words. Ziva's face showed calm, but her eyes reflected the fear that was in McGee's voice.

"Calm down, McPanic." Tony said, having recovered from his own episode of panic just a few moments ago. "We don't know much yet, but she is stable. We are waiting for her to wake up. Someone attacked her."

"What? Who? Why?" The questions came out as almost one word out of McGee's lips.

"She was beaten and left for dead in her own apartment." Detective Hanley had come out of the family waiting room and was standing just behind Ducky.

The shock of what she said washed over the agents. None could verbalize anything as they let the words sink in.

Finally Tony spoke "Detective Hanley. I can't say it is good to see you again under these circumstances, but it is good to see you again. Since you are here, does it mean that Detective Sportelli is on the case as well?"

"Yes. Sportelli and I are both on this case."

"You know that Gibbs is going to want to be a part of this as well," Ziva added.

"I believe he already is." Ducky shared. "Sportelli has a suspect in custody and I believe that is where Gibbs is right now."

Detective Hanley looked at the Medical Examiner, but didn't want to correct him. Not yet. She needed to interview the team first before she let them know what she knew about Gibbs.


	3. Interrogation

A/N Thanks to all who have reviewed and/or put the story on alert. I really appreciate it. Thanks to Wylie for pointing out a medical mistake I made in chapter 2. I have made a minor update to that chapter. It doesn't affect the story, for the most part. And a big thanks to Gottahavemyncis for previewing and correcting the story before y'all get to see it.

* * *

Sportelli arrived at police headquarters with Gibbs in the backseat of the unmarked squad car. He pulled into one of the underground garage bays, got out and closed the door behind the car. He let Gibbs out of the car. "If you continue to play nice, we won't need the cuffs, Gibbs."

Gibbs just glared at Sportelli in response.

"I'll take that as 'Yes'." Sportelli responded to the glare. "You have such expressive eyes, Gibbs; it's no wonder you barely need to speak to get your point across."

"Can we just get this over with, without the sarcasm, Detective?" Gibbs shot back. He really would have preferred to slug Sportelli in the mouth to shut him up. All he wanted to do was see Abby and find who attacked her. The last thing he needed right now was to be provoked by a smart ass.

Sportelli guided Gibbs through an undecorated cinder block corridor to a nondescript door, which he opened. "Insid**e,** Gibbs." The detective motioned to the Special Agent to enter. Gibbs entered the interrogation room and looked around. It looked much like the NCIS interrogation rooms, but a little shabbier and it smelled like someone had been living in it for a month without the benefit of a toilet or shower. "Relax, Gibbs. I'll be back in a few minutes. Just need to get some paperwork done."

"Sportelli, can we hurry this up? I need to go see Abby, find the real person who hurt her." Gibbs spoke through gritted teeth; his anger was unmistakable.

After Sportelli left, Gibbs circled the table for a few minutes. He looked at himself in the mirrored glass and noticed the scratches on his face, they could have been caused by someone raking fingernails across his face, but they also could have come from brushing against something in his drunken state the previous night. He was use to waking up with bruises and scrapes after a night that included too much bourbon. It was as common as his dry mouth and headache that he had completely forgotten about until now, when he was trying to remember the time line from last night. Coffee. He needed coffee. Who could think clearly this early without coffee? He walked around the room one more time and slumped into the chair facing away from the mirror without thinking too much about it. He was still hung over, he was worried about Abby, he was angry at Sportelli and he was frustrated that he wasn't in control. He slammed both fists down on the table in front of him and let out a growl in his frustration.

Minutes later Sportelli entered the room followed by a uniformed office with a camera. "Everything OK, Gibbs?"

Gibbs sent a now common glare toward the detective.

"I'm just following the evidence, Gibbs, and right now all the evidence that we have gathered points to you." The detective motioned to the officer "Take pictures of his hands. Make sure you get all the bruising, scrapes and cuts. Also get pictures of the scratches on his face. "

Gibbs wanted to hide his hands and not be cooperative, but he had nothing to hide. He let the officer take all the photographs he needed. After the officer was done, he left the room. Sportelli said "I need your clothes." He tossed over a large evidence bag for Gibbs. "Everything except your skivvies, place them in the bag. Here's something for you to wear." He handed the agent an orange jumpsuit. Gibbs held it up and saw the word "DC Jail" on the back.

"Really?" Gibbs eyes widened, not believing he was really being treated as a suspect. He thought everything he had been told about was circumstantial and he could easily explain it to Sportelli. He just realized he may be in deeper trouble.

"Just for now Gibbs, the only thing we have. It's standard procedure to test your clothes for evidence. You know that." Just then there was a knock at the door.

Sportelli went to the door. A forensics technician was on the other side. Sportelli let her in. She went over to Gibbs, "I need to get a cheek swab for DNA and I also need to swab the scratches on your cheek, the cuts on your hands and take scrapings from your fingernails."

Gibbs sighed. He wanted to cooperate, but then he remembered his confrontation with McGee in the elevator when the junior agent's sister was accused of murder. McGee said that 'the system says it is better that a guilty man go free, than an innocent man convicted, but he know that doesn't always happen.' Gibbs knew now as he knew then, that was true. He was being set up intentionally or it just seemed that way. He wasn't sure which it was. He just knew that he needed to do what he had to do. "I want a lawyer!"

The forensics tech stopped in her tracks. She knew what the declaration meant.

Sportelli hadn't expected it. Usually innocent people didn't make that declaration, but he knew that those who were experienced with the legal system would declare that caveat when they realized they might be in trouble. He didn't hold it against Gibbs, and if he were in Gibbs' position, he would have done the same. However, he was not happy about it,as it just made his job more complicated. "OK, Gibbs. You lawyered up. We'll get a phone in here so you can make your call."

The forensics tech and Sportelli both left the interrogation room, leaving Gibbs by himself. Gibbs was more frustrated than he had ever been. He had no control of the situation; he didn't know what was happening. All he knew was Abby needed him and he needed to find who attacked her. He slammed his hands down on the table in frustration, over and over again. Finally, after tears were forming in his eyes and he realized he couldn't do anything to change what was going on, he stopped hitting the table. He used a hand to push his hair back, and then began to think.

* * *

"I can't reach Gibbs! I've tried calling him a half dozen times. Even sent several text messages, although I don't expect too much of a response to those. But he just isn't available. Rule number 3.2 'never be unreachable'."

"Rule 3.2?" Ziva asked.

"We already had a Rule number 3: 'Don't believe what you're told, double check', but then another rule was labeled rule number 3, so we just follow both and label then 3.1 and 3.2, but that isn't the issue, Ziva. Where is Gibbs? Abby is in ICU, he isn't here. You'd think he'd stop by here first to find out how she is before going after the scumbag that did this to her. Something isn't right." Tony was very worried.

"Ducky! Exactly what did Gibbs tell you?" Tony wasn't going to let up. His gut was telling him something wasn't right about what they knew.

"Gibbs told me that Abby was in a coma in ICU at GWU hospital center, to get over here so I can be with her. He said he was with Detective Sportelli working on a lead and told me to call the rest of you and let you know about Abby."

"Maybe Gibbs and Sportelli are in interrogation, Tony. There might be no way to infiltrate the Metro PD interrogation rooms." Ziva suggested.

"I don't believe it. There is something else keeping Gibbs from seeing Abby!" Tony insisted.

Detective Hadley had been at the fringe of the team's conversation and still had her ear wig in to hear what was going on with the case. She knew that Gibbs had lawyered up. She was told to let the team know that Gibbs had been detained as a suspect. It wasn't a job that she relished.

"I need to talk to all of you. Can we do it in the family room that we have reserved?" as she gestured to the empty room.

"If you know something, Detective Hadley, I advise you tell us right now! We don't need a room." Tony said in his best 'I'm in charge' voice, which convinced McGee, Ziva and Ducky. They were all secretly glad that Tony was taking charge.

"Gibbs has been detained as a suspect in the attack on Ms. Scuito." Hadley relayed. "He just lawyered up so everything is at a standstill. We are waiting for his lawyer to arrive."

"Who's his lawyer?" DiNozzo blurt out. He had no idea.

Hadley spoke into the microphone she had and received an answer, "Gibbs asked for M. Allison Hart as his lawyer."


	4. Gibbs did what?

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and story alerts. Thanks to Gottahavemyncis for being my beta and biggest cheerleader! Hope all y'all continue to enjoy the story!

Still Not mine.

* * *

The team had been too stunned to say anything after Detective Hadley had revealed that Gibbs was a suspect in the attack on Abby. Tony's question had been more of an automatic reflex rather than a coherent thought process.

Ziva was the next to say something "Have you lost your Jacks? Gibbs would never hurt Abby!" She shook her head for emphasis. "Never!"

"She means 'marbles'" McGee was the next to recover his ability to speak. But his mind had already been processing the information, so he asked. "What evidence do you have that makes Gibbs a suspect?"

"I can't discuss that right now. I've said too much already." Detective Hadley said.

"May I continue on and be with Abby?" Ducky asked, anxious to see his injured colleague, knowing that he wouldn't gather any additional information, nor contribute to the conversation by remaining here.

"Yes, you may, Dr. Mallard." Ducky headed toward Abby's room without a second to spare. Turning to the rest of the team Detective Hadley continued "I'd like to speak to each of you individually before I let you see Abby. I need all of your statements. We are trying to piece together a time line of where Abby was and who she was with last night."

"Rule Number 1.1, right?" Ziva questioned.

"Yeah, although 1.1 is more of a guideline, since it has been broken several times by 'The Maker of the Rules'" DiNozzo said with a little twinge of sadness & disappointment. He needed to do something to get Gibbs cleared. He knew there was no way he would ever hurt Abby, but in the very back of his mind there was this little bit of a 'what if' that he couldn't let go.

"Gibbs. Gibbs' rules. We can use his name Tony." McGee was upset that Abby was in ICU, in a coma. He was upset that Gibbs had been detained for attacking her. He felt helpless. He wanted the reassurance that came from saying 'Gibbs Rules' and not let his name be scrubbed from their vocabulary.

"Easy McProbie." Tony tried to calm him in his best big brother voice. "We all know Gibbs had nothing to do with Abby being in a coma. We'll sort all this out. Let's answer Detective Hadley's questions and then we can see Abby, and then help clear Gibbs."

McGee nodded to the Senior Agent, trying to contain his fear and not let it show. He was afraid that if he spoke, his voice would crack and the dam that was holding his emotions in check would crumble and he would lose it right there.

"Let's go, Detective Hadley. Interrogate me!" DiNozzo said in his best 'teasing' voice as he walked past the Detective, trying to mask the concern that was just below the surface. He needed to keep it together for the team. Just before he walked into the private family waiting room, he shot a look over to Ziva and mouthed 'call Fornell'. Ziva nodded back.

After the door closed with DiNozzo inside the room, Ziva first turned to McGee and put a hand on his shoulder and looked up into his face "McGee, Abby WILL be OK!"

"Of course she will, Ziva. We have to believe that. Thanks." McGee gave her a small smile. He knew she was just as afraid for the forensic scientist as he was.

"Let's sit; we know how Tony can go on and on and on….." Ziva trailed off. She looked at McGee's face and saw the slight trace of a smile after her remark. She knew McGee would be OK. He wore his heart on his sleeve a little more than the rest of the team, which made her want to protect him just a little more than she might anyone else, other than Abby. Everyone protected Abby, which made her wonder why anyone would think Gibbs might attack her. She pulled out her phone and dialed a number that was in her contacts list, but she had never had a need to use before.

* * *

Fornell had just woken up. He was sitting at the kitchen table with his first coffee of the morning and the paper. He was looking toward a relaxing day. He didn't have Emily nor was he working, it was a rare weekend he had all to himself.

His phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and was dismayed to see Metro PD. He hoped that it wasn't a case that would ruin his quiet weekend. "Fornell".

"I need you to do something for me." Gibbs said without any greeting or other formalities.

"Uh-oh. You're tangled up with Metro PD on a Saturday morning? No 'Good Morning' or anything. And now you're calling me? That can't be good! You aren't going to drag me & the FBI into this are you?"

"Hope it doesn't come to that. You're my one phone call."

Fornell understood what that meant. "So, what'd they get you for? Glaring without a license?" He chuckled.

"They think I beat up Abby and put her in a Coma." Gibbs relayed.

"They What?!" Fornell exclaimed in utter surprise. "What idiot thinks that?"

"Sportelli."

"Never did like him." Fornell deadpanned.

"Me neither. Like him less now. I lawyered up and need you to contact M. Allison Hart for me."

"You have a thing for her, don't ya?" Fornell asked.

"Depends on what you mean by 'thing', Tobias." Gibbs chuckled a little. "Just call her, as soon as possible. I need to get out of here and find who did this to Abby, 'cause I know it sure as hell wasn't me!"

"Alright, Jethro. Anyone else you want me to contact?"

"My team should be on their way or at GWU Hospital. Call DiNozzo or Ducky and find out how Abby is. Have then contact Hart so she can fill me in."

"OK. I'll poke around and see what's happening with the investigation. You want me to contact Vance?"

"Not yet. No reason to get him involved until I am officially arrested & booked. I'm only being detained right now. They are giving me 'professional courtesy'. Not sure how much longer that will last. Not sure what evidence they have against me, but didn't like where the questions were going."

"OK, I'll get Hart there and find out what's happening with Abby. Just hang in there Gibbs. Give 'em a hard time." Fornell chuckled; he knew he didn't have to tell Gibbs that. Gibbs was going to give Sportelli the hardest time he ever had. Anyone with half a brain and who knew Gibbs would know that he never would hurt Abby. He almost felt sorry for what the detective would be subject to.

Fornell had hung up and was in the process of finding the phone number for Hart when his phone rang again. Caller ID showed it was Ziva. "Fornell" he answered.

"Tobias, this is Ziva."

"I think I know why you are calling, Ziva. I just spoke to Gibbs. I am trying to contact the lawyer right now."

"You did? How is he? Hart, right?" The Agent asked her questions in rapid succession as they entered her head.

"He's pissed! But he's worried about Abby as well. Yeah, M. Allison Hart"

"What happened, Ziva?" Fornell asked.

"We don't know. We just found out that Gibbs is being detained. We have been told nothing else. We have not yet been able to see Abby. Detective Hadley needs to question us on what we know about Abby's actions last night before we get to see her. Ducky is done with the detective, so he is now with her."

"What evidence do they have on Gibbs?"

"We do not know."

"Let me know when you know more about Abby's condition, I need to relay it to Gibbs through Hart. Hopefully she will have him out of there soon, but I have no idea why they think he is the prime suspect. They don't appear to be looking for anyone else."

"If anyone can get Gibbs out, it will be Hart. The only reason I can think of them focusing on Gibbs, is that someone framed him, planted evidence that would point to Gibbs as Abby's attacker." Ziva suggested.

"I was thinking the same thing, Ziva." Fornell said thoughtfully. "Let the team know what is going on with Gibbs, I'll see what I can find out about the evidence. I'm here to help, keep me in the loop. And we aren't saying anything to Vance yet. Not until Gibbs is officially charged."

"Thanks, Tobias. We will keep you informed. Bye. " Ziva hung up.

Of all the things that Fornell thought Gibbs might be arrested for, attacking and injuring Abby never entered his mind. 'Who did you piss off this time, Jethro?' Tobias said to no one.

He went back to finding M. Allison Hart's number. He found a listing in the yellow pages. Made the call, and got an answering service. After relaying that it was an emergency and that the client's name was Leroy Jethro Gibbs, he gave his phone number and waited for the lawyer's return call.

Within 3 minutes M. Allison Hart called. Tobias chuckled at how quickly his call was returned. Apparently the lawyer had a thing for Gibbs.

Fornell filled Hart in on everything he knew.  
"Don't worry Mr. Fornell; I'll have Mr. Gibbs out of custody and by Abby's side in the hospital by early afternoon."

"Thanks Counselor. Please contact me if you need anything. I'm gonna head over to the hospital now and get with his team, we'll start looking for the real person who did this to Abby."

"Nail that bastard's ass to the wall, Fornell!" Hart said just before she hung up.

* * *

Hart had been doing Pilate's when she had gotten the call from her answering service. When she heard the client was Leroy Jethro Gibbs, she immediately thought of the report had gotten to the wrong people. She told him she could get him off; maybe that was why he called her.

After she got off the phone with Fornell, without showering, she quickly changed into her professional attire. She was out the door within 10 minutes of getting the original phone call from her answering service. She hailed a cab. Traffic was still light at this time on a Saturday morning. The ride from her upscale Northwest neighborhood to Metro PD headquarters took only 8 minutes. It helped that her cab driver seemed to know the roads well, and knew the roads to take that to limit the number of traffic lights.

When she arrived at MPD Headquarters she made her way into the lobby and went to the lobby window to sign in. "M. Allison Hart. Attorney for Leroy Jethro Gibbs. I am here to see my client who is being detained by Detective Sportelli."

The officer manning the lobby window had dealt with the counselor before and knew enough to get her to her client as soon as possible. She was not a pleasant lady to deal with. He picked up a phone and dialed Sportelli's extension. He was told to send her up.

The officer returned to his attention to the woman on the other side of the glass. "Do you have your visitor ID, Ms. Hart?"

"Yes I do officer." Hart pointed to the picture badge hanging from the lapel of her jacket.

"I'll buzz you in and you can go on up and see Sportelli in the homicide squad room." The door buzzed open; she grabbed it and headed to the squad room.

"Sportelli! Exactly what evidence do you think you have on my client? I need to see him now." Every single head in the sparsely populated room looked toward the attorney who had just entered the squad room, and every single person cringed a bit, all having had some experience with the pit bull-esque lawyer.

"The evidence we have is pretty extensive, Ms. Hart." Sportelli explained as he guided her to the interrogation room in which Gibbs was still being held.

"And probably all circumstantial, Mr. Sportelli." Hart walked with a purpose, refusing to look at the detective.

When they arrived at the room, before Sportelli opened the door he gave the lawyer a few instructions. "When you're done, knock on the door. The officer at the end of the hall will let you out."

"I expect you to release my client immediately after I speak with him, so you better start to work on that now, Mr. Sportelli." Hart said to the detective.

The detective opened the door. Gibbs was leaning against the far wall his expression unreadable as he looked toward the door to see who was entering the room. A look of relief washed over him as he saw Hart at the door.

Hart walked into the room and put her briefcase on the table. "I'll have you out of her in no time, Mr. Gibbs. But we'll have to get you a different outfit. Orange just doesn't look good on you."


	5. Shadow of a doubt

A/N: Sorry for the delay. Life has kept me busy. I promise the next chapter will be up very soon. Thanks so much for the reviews and the follows. A special thanks to GottaHaveMyNCIS for being the beta for this chapter.

Disclaimer: Not mine, just like playing with them a bit.

* * *

"Are you insane, Hadley? Gibbs would never hurt Abby! Why do you think he's even involved?" Tony angrily asked the Metro detective.

"I can't answer that, Agent DiNozzo. There is evidence we can't reveal right now." Hadley answered.

"Whatever evidence you have, you're reading it wrong." DiNozzo said definitively. "If you had any knowledge of Gibbs, you'd know that he would do anything in his power to protect Abby. And I definitely wouldn't want to be the one who is keeping him from her when she is hurt and needs him. You are tempting fate by detaining him."

Hadley was already slightly uneasy dealing with the NCIS MCRT team, they seemed to be very sure of themselves, and they seemed to put Sportelli off his game, definitely a reason to handle them differently. DiNozzo had always been upfront with her. She tended to believe that he was telling her the truth, but she was given an order by her superior. She decided to go out on a limb. "DiNozzo, anything you can tell me about why you are so sure Gibbs wouldn't hurt Abby really might help the investigation."

"Where should I start?" DiNozzo began. He looked her in the eye. "Gibbs is like a father to all of us. While he is strict and severe with us when he is trying to keep us in line," Tony unconsciously rubbed the back of his head, "he would do anything for us if we were in danger or in trouble. Abby is his favorite. I honestly believe he would kill to keep Abby safe. And right now, Sportelli is keeping him from finding the person who hurt Abby. He is not a happy camper right now. The Gibbs I know might have hurt Sportelli to be here with Abby, but my guess is he is cooperating. I suggest you do whatever you can to clear him because I don't think he will continue to cooperate much longer." DiNozzo rose from his seat. "May I go see Abby now?"

"Thanks for being so candid with me Agent DiNozzo. I'm just following orders. From everything you and Ducky have told me, I really think Sportelli is barking up the wrong tree." Hadley sighed then looked up at the Federal Agent who was standing, eager to see his injured colleague. "Any advice on how to proceed when you think your boss is wrong?"

DiNozzo smiled at her, "Not really. I have never known my boss to be wrong. Just go with your gut, Hadley. I think you'll be alright. Now if you excuse me…" DiNozzo moved toward the door. He stopped just before he opened it and turned back toward the detective "My advice, look for someone other than Gibbs. And stay out of Gibbs' way, let Sportelli take the wrath when this all shakes out." DiNozzo opened the door and stepped out.

Once he was on the other side of the door. "Your turn Ziva." He didn't say anymore, but his eyes questioned if she had called Fornell. Before Ziva was able to convey any information, Fornell walked into the ICU.

"DiNutso, Ziver, McGee." Fornell greeted each agent.

"Did you reach Ms Hart?" Ziva asked.

"On her way to see Gibbs. She seemed rather responsive. I wouldn't be surprised if she is already at MPD headquarters." Fornell relayed. "So, what do you know about why Gibbs is being accused of hurting Abby?

"Nothing" DiNozzo relayed. "MPD screwed up again. They got a lead that pointed to Gibbs and they stopped looking; at least that's what I suspect. They aren't telling us anything. Detective Hadley is questioning us on orders from Sportelli, but I think she is only following orders and doesn't believe that Gibbs did it."

"I have a call in to find out what MPD has, but so far nothing since everything is off the record; they haven't officially charged Gibbs with anything."

Hadley appeared in the doorway again. "Agent David, Agent McGee, who's next?"

Fornell walked up to Hadley and showed his credentials, "Agent Fornell, FBI. What's going on here, Detective Hadley? You really believe that Agent Gibbs had something to do with the assault on Ms. Scuito? Do you know ANYTHING about their relationship, Detective Hadley?" Fornell was trying to intimidate the young detective.

Hadley stood her ground, "Agent Fornell, I am following orders from my superior. I am to interrogate and report. I am not here to think."

Fornell was still up in Hadley's face, toe to toe with her, "so, what are you going to report so far?"

"No one can give Gibbs an alibi, yet no one thinks he is capable of hurting Ms. Scuito. Just the opposite, he would do anything to protect her." Hadley looked directly at Fornell as she gave the information.

"Detective Hadley, as a Federal Officer who has interacted with Gibbs' team over the years, I can tell you that is fact. Gibbs would do anything to protect Abby. You need to find another suspect."

Hadley flashed back to Abby's lab when she and Sportelli had tried to get the evidence involved in the Arnett investigation.

_Abby had stood toe to toe with Sportelli and declared 'I only take orders from one person, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs! Unless he asks me to do it, it doesn't get done." Gibbs had come down and smoothed things over and Abby listened to Gibbs when he told her to turn the evidence over._

She realized she had her own insight into the relationship between Ms. Scuito and Agent Gibbs. Sportelli must be wrong. She went up to Ziva and McGee. She no longer cared about questioning them individually. "Do you know where Ms. Scuito went after work on Friday night?"

"No" Ziva simply stated.

"Uh, yeah, I think I know. We had walked up to 8th and I to see the Friday evening parade at the Marine Barracks Washington. We sometimes do that on Friday evenings. Abby loves watching the Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon." McGee smiled. "She always finds out when they are going to be part of the parade and makes sure she gets tickets to the evenings they are going to perform. I escorted her back to the Navy Yard so she could get her car, she drove out of the Navy Yard and I headed toward the metro. That was about 9:30pm."

"Any other contact with her, Agent McGee?" Detective Hadley asked.

"Uh, no. I went home and didn't hear from her again that evening," McGee relayed.

"Thanks for your help Agents David & McGee. You may go see Ms. Scuito." Hadley pulled out her phone, and was getting ready to call Sportelli. She wasn't looking forward to the conversation she needed to have. She didn't think that Gibbs had anything to do with the assault on Ms. Scuito. She knew Sportelli was sure he had the right suspect, but also seemed to be elated that the suspect was Gibbs. Maybe a little too elated. Maybe he wasn't looking at all the alternatives, because he wanted Gibbs to be the suspect. "Sportelli! It's Hadley. I don't think Gibbs is our suspect."


	6. LawyerClient priviledge

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and the follows. I tried to answer all that have responses enabled. I know M. Allison Hart isn't eveyone's favorite, but I figured I'd play with her a bit. Thanks to Gottahavemyncis for suffering through my first draft and making sure the chapters are readable for all y'all.

Disclaimer: No matter how much I click my heels and say "I wish it were mine", it still isn't.

* * *

"Finally I'm able to say 'Good to see you, Ms. Hart' and really mean it." Gibbs stated simply, still leaning against the far wall of the interrogation room.

Hart got right to the point. "While I am not surprised to see you under these circumstances, Mr. Gibbs, I am surprised that the reason you have been detained and require legal representation is because you are accused of attacking and nearly beating to death your team mascot, Abby Scuito." She moved closer to the middle of the interrogation room. "There are so many crimes that you have committed that should have landed you in this position. If you really did this, I know there is no way anyone would be able to pin it on you so quickly."

Hart left her briefcase on the table, walked over, and stood in front of Gibbs, who still hadn't moved. She crossed her arms and looked him up and down. "Orange is not your color, Mr. Gibbs. Maybe we should get you out of that jumpsuit?"

"Was wondering how long it would take you to try and get me outta my clothes." Gibbs teased back at her. "Normally, I wouldn't mind stripping for you, but right now, Abby Scuito is lying in ICU in a coma." Gibbs voice began to rise and the anger was evident. "And some asshole thinks I had something to do with it!" Gibbs stepped away from the wall and stood toe to toe with the lawyer. "I need to get out of here to find the bastard who hurt Abby!. I need to be with her while she is hurting and tell her that everything will be alright!" Gibbs' jaw was clenched, as were his fists. His voice hitched as he hissed "I need to get out NOW! Ms. Hart."

Hart almost took a step back. She never had a problem with anyone entering her personal space; it never intimidated her. She was usually the one doing the intimidating. But for some reason, Gibbs could not be intimidated. He confronted her intimidation, threats and manipulation in a way that no one else ever could. It not only intrigued her, it turned her on. However, at the same time, he carried too much baggage for anything beyond what they had, flirting, rankling each other, and that one night, full of passion, which would never happen again. She wouldn't let it, and she didn't think he would either.

She tried her 'less aggressive' voice, "Gibbs, tell me what happened. What do you know?"

Gibbs walked away, around the room. He stopped when he was on the other side of the table. "I left the Navy Yard about 22:30. I picked up a Burger & fries at Five Guys, and then headed home. Must've got there by 23:15. Flipped the on the TV, news was on, ate my burger in the dining room, headed down to the basement and worked there the rest of the evening." Gibbs turned away from Hart and headed to a far corner; he leaned back into the corner, and then continued, "I was drinking bourbon the whole time. Maybe too much. I don't remember going upstairs and going to sleep on the couch. The next thing I remember was Sportelli knocking on my door." Gibbs wasn't about to tell M. Allison Hart about his nightmares starring Abby & Shannon. He looked across the room, into her eyes, "I really don't know what happened for those few hours in the middle of the night. But I can assure you, I would never. Ever. Hurt. Abby!"

"Mr. Gibbs, is there any chance that you may have left your house after consuming bourbon?" Hart asked.

Gibbs shook his head. "Nope! Haven't done it in the past, no reason to do it now. I may not remember _everything_ I did, but I can pretty much tell you most of what I did." Gibbs still had his deadpan voice. "I was working on my latest project. Abby's..." Gibbs hesitated not worried about telling Hart, but worried that the damn that was keeping his emotions in check would crack any minute. "Abby's Christmas present."

Walking around the table, Ms. Hart stood close, nearly toe to toe with Gibbs. "You're being framed. I don't know if it is circumstantial or evidential, but we'll get you out of here now and figure the rest out later."

Ms Hart moved again so now she was within inches of Gibbs. She looked up into his face. She reached up, put her arms around his neck, and pulled him closer. She whispered into his ear, "I still remember that night".

Gibbs smiled and whispered back "Me too."

She released her hold and stepped away from Gibbs. "Sportelli seems to think that you are guilty. Why would he think that?"

Gibbs stood in the same position he had been standing. "He's an idiot! But if I had to confront the evidence, it's this: Sportelli has a 911 tape with Abby calling. She says my name. I think she thought she had pressed the speed dial for me and was calling me, not 911. I'm 1 on her speed dial, 911 is 2. That's the only thing I can think of. As for my fingerprints on the bottle of bourbon and glass, I was there two days ago. If Abby didn't move them from the table, of course my prints would be on them."

"We're out of here, Gibbs! There is no way they can keep you here on this evidence." She grabbed his hand and looked into his eyes. "You OK?"

"No!" His sky blue eyes stared into her cobalt blue orbs, "Someone hurt Abby! These assholes think I did it. I need to be with her, I need to find who did this to her. THEY need to find who did this to her! Just get me outta here, Hart!"

The emotional outpouring from Gibbs moved Ms. Hart. She had never ever before seen him reveal his raw emotions like this. Clients had certainly lied to her, but she knew that this was not the case. Gibbs was telling the truth. "You'll be out of here in moments Gibbs. I'll be right back." She turned and headed for the door and knocked, waiting for the officer to open the door. "And I'll make sure I get clothes so you can get out of that orange jumpsuit." She turned and looked at him waiting for the door to open. "Although I think you should retain it. For later." She smiled and crossed her arms. "I kinda like the bad boy look it gives you."

Gibbs smirked.

The door opened and M. Allison Hart left with her briefcase in her hand and a smile on her face.


	7. Abby responds

Yeah, it's been a while. Life just gets busy. I've been wanting to get back to this and my other story. It'll happen when it happens.

Disclaimer: As much as I want it to be, it still isn't mine.

* * *

Ducky had been with Abby for over an hour. He held her hand, he was telling her stories, anything to make a connection. People in comas could hear people around them, but Ducky had a gut feeling that the only voice that Abby would be most likely to respond to would be Gibbs. He pulled out his phone and attempted to call Gibbs. He hit speed dial for Gibbs' number. It went directly to voice mail, but he still put the phone to Abby's ear so she could hear Gibbs' voice, "NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, leave a message". It wasn't much, but he felt that any little bit of connection between Abby and Gibbs could help her recover.

Ducky had played the message at least five times. He heard the door to Abby's room open behind him. He turned and saw Tony standing there. Tony was taking in Abby's condition. It was hitting him hard. He hadn't expected Abby to look this hurt. Ducky was by Tony's side before he realized it. "Tony, the best thing you can do is to talk to her."

"What am I gonna say?" Tony asked.

"Anything. Tell her about your day, about what is happening, anything. It is about hearing your voice." Ducky urged.

Tony looked at Ducky a bit taken aback, and then turned to Abby. His throat constricted a bit as he took in her state as she lay in ICU. "Hey Abbs!" Tony finally was able to choke out "We all know you are just hanging out, resting and stuff. So, anyway, we know Gibbs would never do anything to hurt you, but Sportelli thinks that Gibbs attacked you, if there is anything you can tell us that would indicate otherwise….." At that moment, one of the machines that was hooked up to Abby showed that her heart rate spiked, then after Tony stopped talking, went back to normal. Tony looked at Ducky and mouthed without sound "was that me?"

Ducky's eyes were wide at Abby's reaction and he nodded to Tony. "Pretty sure it was!"

Tony decided to try it again. "Abby, we're trying to find who may have attacked you." There was no change in Abby's heart rate or any other vital signs.

"Gibbs wants to be here with you." Tony said. Abby's heart rate increased immediately after the words were out of Tony's mouth. Tony looked at Ducky with an astonished look on his face, Ducky looked back at Tony with a smile and a knowing look on his face. He motioned to Tony to step outside.

Once outside the ICU room Ducky said to Tony, "We need to get Gibbs here as soon as possible, Abby needs him to recover."

"I want to throw up a little bit in my mouth." Tony's face showed a little disgust.

"Why, Anthony DiNozzo? Abby and Gibbs have always had a special relationship. It makes sense to me that Abby would respond subconsciously to Gibbs' name or any reference to him. I don't think the response that we are seeing is something that she would ever admit to, or we would see if she was conscious. We can use it to try to get her to awaken, but we should never use it for any other reason. Do you understand Tony, or do I need to head slap you?"

Tony automatically reached for the back of his head. "No head slap needed! I understand. Anything to bring Abby back!"

"I'm glad you are convinced," Ducky went on. "We need to tell her that Gibbs will be here soon, in addition to how much we care for her and hope she gets better. Nothing negative. We want to see her respond in a positive way to our words and actions. Hold her hand, stroke her face, and talk about things she wants to hear."

Tony nodded as he listened to Ducky, "McGee-speak probably could go to a level either of us could never understand. I hope he gets here soon."

"Let's go in and do what we can until he gets here." Ducky stepped in front of the door to Abby's ICU room and it opened.

Tony and Ducky walked back into the room. "Hey Abbs!" Tony said cheerily. He walked over and held the hand that didn't have all sorts of tubes sticking out of it. "I'd ask you 'what you got?' but I know that isn't my line and I don't have a Caf-Pow'."

The machine hooked up to Abby showed her heart rate elevated a little bit, but not much. Tony looked at Ducky before he continued, "Gibbs will be here any time now, Abbs. He's looking for the bastard that did this to you." Abby's heart rate went a bit higher for a few seconds, then, after Tony finished talking, went back to normal.

Ducky decided to try a different approach. He stood right next to the forensic scientist and spoke in a soft, gentle voice, "Abby?" He waited to see if his voice caused any change in her heart rate. Nothing. "Do you want Gibbs to visit?" Abby's heart rate monitor spiked higher than it did when Tony talked to her. Ducky looked over at DiNozzo.

"We need to get Gibbs here." DiNozzo said matter-of-factly to Ducky, who nodded. "I always suspected, but this definitely confirms how she feels. Also blows holes in Sportelli's theory."

"Tony, do you have any recordings of Gibbs when he is being pleasant? Nothing from interrogation." Ducky asked.

Tony thought for a minute, "His voice mail. McGeek might have something we could play for Abby. Let me go see if he is still with Hadley." Tony left the room to find McGee.

Ducky turned back to Abby. "If Gibbs were able to come, he'd be here with you, in the meantime. I will do everything I can to make sure you get better, Abby." Ducky held her hand and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He didn't expect any reaction, but was a little disappointed that his actions didn't cause one.

Tony stepped out into the hall and saw McGee and Ziva walking toward him.

"How is she?" Ziva asked, the worry obvious in her eyes.

"Still in a coma." Tony said, just conveying information, all emotion was held tight inside.

McGee's emotions were open for anyone to see. He was visibly shaken. "Anything we can do, Tony?"

"Glad you asked, Tim" DiNozzo used the name he hardly ever used for McGee. He knew the young agent was shaken by the events. He knew that Abby and McGee had an intimate relationship at one point, but a professional relationship now. But he also knew the probie felt things deeply. "Can you get a recording of Gibbs being nice?"

"Gibbs being nice?" McGee questioned.

"Yeah. Something where he isn't interrogating witnesses or being the bad ass we all know and love."

"Uh, has he ever let anyone record him in that mode?" McGee didn't think such a recording existed.

"I don't know!" DiNozzo asked, somewhat exasperated. "That's why I asked you. If Abby hears Gibbs voice in a non-threatening way, we think that she will respond positively."

"I might have some 'Nice Gibbs'," Ziva offered.

"That'll help." McGee said to her, then back to DiNozzo, "I'll find something, even if I have to edit stuff together." McGee offered. "Can I take time to talk to Abby first?"

Tony nodded, "I think that would do both of you some good."

Ziva and McGee stepped into the ICU room. McGee swallowed hard. It hurt him to see Abby like this. He stepped next to her bedside. "Hey Abby, just hang in there. We'll find whoever did this to you." He reached out and touched her face. Then leaned over and kissed her cheek. The heart rate monitor increased slightly. Everyone in the room noticed. He remained near her face and whispered in her ear. "We need you back, Abby. Gibbs needs you." The heart rate monitor started to increase. McGee's heart fell a little. He always hoped that he might have a chance with Abby, but knew that she didn't care for him as she did for another. Now his suspicions were confirmed. She cared for Gibbs more than him. As much as it pained him, it also relieved him a bit. If it was anyone that Abby had feelings for, he was glad it was Gibbs, someone he himself looked up to and aspired to be like. He couldn't blame her. He had a little bit of a man crush on Gibbs, nothing sexual, just a very deep admiration.

Ziva, Tony and Ducky all knew the young agent had feelings for the forensic scientist, but they were not sure where the relationship was at this point. They watched McGee cautiously. They were ready to be there for him if he broke down while seeing Abby in her present condition. But McGee stood strong. He leaned over and kissed Abby's cheek. All could hear him whisper to her "We'll get him, Abby. We would never let anyone hurt you. Gibbs will be here as soon as he can." With the last words, Abby's heart rate went up just a little bit. McGee squeezed Abby's hand one last time and turned to go. "I'll find something we can play for Abby." McGee told the three co-workers at the other side of the room, thankful they gave him some space. "I think she might have something on her computer we can use, if so, I should be back here in an hour or so.

Tony clapped a hand on McGee's shoulder. "Do what you can, Probie. But if you want to be here, it's OK. You can stay."

McGee looked at Tony, "As much as I'd like to stay, I think I can do better finding a recording of Gibbs. I know that will help Abby more than anything I could do here." Tony detected a note of resignation in McGee's voice, but knew that was something that he was working through and would do what he needed to do to get Abby better.

McGee left the room. Ziva grabbed Tony's elbow and looked at him. "He needed that, Tony. You did well."

"Thanks." DiNozzo felt a little pride. He was always afraid he would say the wrong thing. He usually did that on a regular basis. It was always nice to know that he had the right words when they were needed. He turned to his co-worker and reached out and hugged her. Ziva was a little taken by surprised. She wasn't a hugger, but had learned that was a common occurrence in the USA, especially when Abby was involved. She smiled at the thought, and hugged Tony back.

"She needs us. I am going to stay with her. You go and find out who did this to her, Tony." Ziva was shaken more than she thought she would be. She wanted to kick herself. After being held hostage in Somalia, this sort of attack affected her more deeply than she would like to admit.

"You're not coming with us?" DiNozzo questioned.

Ducky, who Ziva had confided in more than once, noticed the empathy that Ziva had for Abby and realized that she needed to be with Abby as much for her healing as Abby needed someone.

"Tony, I think Ziva being here will be best for Abby. You should go on and start working the investigation."

Tony didn't quite understand why Ziva couldn't help with the investigation, but he agreed. "Any change with Abby, let me know! And any word on Gibbs let me know that as well. He stepped over, next to Abby and spoke to her "Hang in there, Abby. I'm gonna find who did this to you, and then we'll hold them for Gibbs to deal with, and you know that will not be a pretty sight." He kissed her on the forehead. "We need you Abbs, get better." No one else heard those words. It was just between him and Abby.


	8. To see Abby

_A/N Thanks to all who have left reviews, followed the story and/or favorited the story. Sorry for the delay. Work has been insane this year, and the last thing I have wanted to do when I get home is write. I hope to get some more chapters out over the next few weeks. Hang in there, I will finish the story. Thanks to Gotta for continuing to be my beta. _

_Disclaimer: I still own nothing._

* * *

Gibbs stepped out of Metro Police Headquarters with Allison Hart at his side. He was dressed in MPD sweats that Hart had acquired for him, since his clothes had been retained for evidence. Allison had intimidated one of the officers into loaning sweats for him to wear. Gibbs noticed that she had kept the orange jumpsuit, stowing it in her briefcase.

"You have a car here?" Gibbs asked Hart.

"No, I took a cab. You want to go home?" Hart asked Gibbs.

"No! To Abby's. Cell Phone?" Gibbs said in his normal minimalistic manner.

Hart handed over her iPhone. Gibbs looked at it, and then looked at Hart. "What the hell is this?"

Hart took her iPhone back and touched the icon for the dialer then handed it back to Gibbs.

Gibbs dialed Ducky's number from memory.

"Dr. Mallard, NCIS", Ducky answered his phone officially since he didn't recognize the number on the caller ID.

"Hey Duck" Gibbs voice came through the speaker. "Need some catching up."

"Jethro!" Ducky responded excitedly, "So glad to hear from you." Ducky hesitated. "Are you OK?"

"You at the hospital with Abby?" Gibbs asked, ignoring Ducky's question, the stress obvious in his voice.

"Yes I am. She is stable, still in a coma. Her vital signs are good. She is responding to some stimulus." Ducky didn't want to add to Gibbs' obvious stress that Abby responded to his voice or his name more than others.

"Tony? Ziva? McGee?" Gibbs questioned, not needing any other words to convey his meaning.

"Tony and McGee have headed to the Crime scene" a slight pause by Ducky, "I mean Abby's apartment to try to find any evidence that Metro may have overlooked. Ziva has stayed by Abby's side, talking to her." Finally he said "Gibbs, get over here as soon as you can. Abby needs you more than I can explain over the phone."

Gibbs eyebrows jumped "What do you mean, Ducky?"

"I can't explain much right now Gibbs, but Abby seems to respond to your voice and your name. I let her listen to your voice mail message, as brief as it may be, but it did seem to help her. Just get over her ASAP, Jethro!" Ducky said emphatically.

"I will, Duck, I will." Gibbs responded. He handed the phone back to Hart without disconnecting the call, since he didn't know how.

Gibbs turned to Hart "we're going to the hospital first. I need to see Abby." He felt as if an elephant was sitting on his chest. He really had no concern about what happened to him, but his team? Abby? If anything happened to them, he felt it very deeply. They were family, after all.

Hart felt her heart sink. She had hoped after rescuing Gibbs from MPD that he would feel closer to her, but instead, all he cared about was Abby. While Hart was feeling a bit spurned, Gibbs had hailed a cab and was holding the door open for Hart to get in first. She slid into the back seat, Gibbs slid in next to her. "GWU Hospital Center" Hart managed to convey to the cab driver. She looked over at Gibbs. She saw the worry on his face. She reached over to hold his hand. He looked over at her as she made contact. The look he gave her was first, one of surprise, then one of acceptance. He held her hand as much as she held his. This was, at least, progress in Hart's eyes.

Traffic was still not bad since it was a Saturday morning; it only took 10 minutes for the cab to arrive at GWU hospital center. Gibbs & Hart got out. Since both were pretty familiar with the hospital, they went directly to the elevators. Once in the elevator, Gibbs hit the button for ICU. Before they could get to the next floor, M. Allison hit the emergency stop button.  
Gibbs looked at her with wide questioning eyes.

"Just need to know. Will we have another night, like we did?" Ms. Hart looked up into Gibbs eyes, her own questioning, yearning, hoping.

Gibbs looked at her. "Really?" the only word he said. He shook his head. "Hart, anything between us is best dealt with later. Right now, I need to see if Abby, my family, is OK." He hit turned off the emergency stop button, and at the same time grabbed Hart's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Let me deal with this first." Gibbs said as he turned to Hart. Hart was left with a little hope.

The elevator arrived at the ICU. Gibbs couldn't get out of the elevator fast enough. He ran to the nurses' station ahead of Hart, found out where Abby was and headed for her room. As he approached her room, he just stood there looking at her, his heart breaking.

Ducky saw Gibbs outside the ICU room. He got up and headed toward his friend.

"Gibbs, Abby seems to have some connection with you. You need to get in there and talk to her right now!"

Gibbs just looked at Ducky with all the indifference that he could muster. "Whaddya mean, Duck?"

"I'm not one to ramble on, Jethro. All you need to know is go in there and talk to Abby." Dr. Mallard urged.

Gibbs looked at the ME with a slight quizzical look, but trusted what he was told by the man. By then Hart had caught up and was standing next to Gibbs.

Gibbs just stood looking at Abby hooked up to the ventilator, and all the other machines measuring her vital signs and providing her with fluids. His heart broke a little. She was like a daughter to him. The one feeling he felt more than any other was that he failed to protect her. He was frozen in place. He couldn't force himself to step through the door of her ICU room. Luckily Ducky realized what was happening and placed his arm around Gibbs torso and led him into the room. He continued to lead her to Abby's side.

Gibbs swallowed many times. He felt really nauseous, and was trying to will himself not to puke. Ducky placed Abby's hand into Gibbs hand. "Talk to her, Jethro. She trusts you, she counts on you, and she needs you."

Gibbs swallowed again, but this time it wasn't to keep from puking, it was to prevent him from screaming out. He didn't know what he should say. He didn't know why Abby was in ICU. He didn't know where he fit in all of this. He wanted this to be over and be in his basement sanding his boat and drinking bourbon. Instead, he looked at Abby. He hurt, from the inside out. How could anyone hurt Abby? A wave of anger flashed over him and he realized that wasn't right either. He leaned closer to Abby's ear and whispered, barely audible, no one else in the room had any idea what he said. "Abby, Please, get better. If there is anything I can do, I'll do it. I need you to get better. You are one of the few people in my life that keep me sane."

Ducky was watching Abby's monitors as Gibbs approached and spoke to her. The signals became stronger. She was definitely responding to Gibbs better than any other stimulus that was being provided to her in ICU. Ziva was right next to Ducky. She saw the same thing that Ducky saw. She touched the ME's shoulder. He looked at her and she looked at him with a knowing glance. She said "He's not going to want to stay. He's going to want to find out who did this."

Ducky nodded. "Go with him, Ziva? Keep an eye on him?"

Ziva nodded her head in agreement. "I will, Ducky. You keep an eye on Abby."

Ducky looked at Ziva. "I won't let anything happen to her. I'm too afraid of what Gibbs might do to me." The ME smiled a bit to show he was partially joking, but part of each of them knew that part of the fear was real.


	9. Let's find the bastard

A/N: Thanks to all who have reviewed and followed this story. I have tried to respond to all who have left reviews, if your settings allow responses. A big thanks to Gotta for being the best beta ever!

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Gibbs finally moved away from Abby, stepping outside the door of her room. He turned back, looked at her through the glass and took a deep breath. "Who the hell did this?" Gibbs muttered under his breathe. Ms. Hart, who had remained outside when Gibbs entered earlier, was by his side, waiting to see what Gibbs' state was. "How is she?" the attorney asked.

Gibbs didn't instantly respond. "I don't know. She's in a coma. Until she wakes, we won't know how she is."

While Gibbs and Hart were in conversation, McGee had returned with a bunch of mp3s of Gibbs being 'nice' on an iPod.

"Boss?!" McGee exclaimed with a bit of relief that masked the previous stress in his voice.

"McGee." Gibbs greeted the agent in his minimalistic manner.

"Boss, I have some mp3s of you being nice…" McGee wasn't sure if he should keep talking.

"Me? Being nice? What the hell is up with that?!" Gibbs said.

"Uh, Boss, uh, you see, uh, Abby was responding to your voice and your name." McGee finally blurted out. "I was trying to find some pleasant recordings of you, you know, when you were being nice."

Gibbs smiled a little bit. Then put a serious face on, "Yeah, you would, McGee." Gibbs uncharacteristically stepped closer to McGee and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you, McGee. Thanks for watching over Abby."

McGee's eyes grew wide at being pulled into a hug by his boss. He wanted to pull away, but at the same time needed the comfort. When the unexpected hug was over, McGee handed the iPod to Ducky and started to explain how to replay the clips for Abby. He then fled to Abby's apartment, to join DiNozzo and Detective Hadley.

Ducky put the iPod headphones in Abby's ears and put the mp3 playlist that McGee created on a loop. Instantly he saw a stronger heartbeat and better respiration from the machines hooked up to Abby. Ducky left Abby's room; he joined Gibbs at the observation window where he had remained staring at the forensic scientist. "Gibbs, she is stable. Go do what you need to do. She'll be here when you get back."

Gibbs gave the ME a stare that asked if he was totally sure.

"Jethro, Abby is in good hands, you can't do any more here. Go find who did this to her." Ducky ordered Gibbs.

If anyone else had said that to Gibbs, he would never have trusted them, but he trusted Ducky explicitly and only for him would he ignore his concern for Abby and leave ICU. "Take care of her, Duck." Gibbs whispered in the ME's ear as he gave him a one armed hug, his eyes never leaving Abby on the other side of the door.

After Gibbs was assured that Abby would be ok, he decided to head to Abby's apartment, where DiNozzo was once again combing the place for evidence with Detective Hanley at his side. Since Metro PD had identified Gibbs as a suspect early on, the agents were sure the detectives had done a half-assed job of analyzing the crime scene.

When Gibbs left GWU, Ms. Hart suggested that she go with him, just in case he encountered some issues with Metro PD and someone needed to intimidate them. After that statement, Hart received the level 5 'Gibbs Stare' which had been known to reduce entire Platoons of Marines into sniveling children. She didn't even flinch. On top of that, Ziva joined them. Gibbs understood her being there a little better. He saw the unspoken language between Ducky and Ziva and knew that she was there as much out of concern for him as she was concerned for Abby. If it had been anyone else, he would have objected. However, he felt a comfort that Ziva was with him as they tried to find out who did this to Abby.

The group stepped out of GWU Hospital and hailed a cab; after they gave the driver the address, Gibbs settled in and said "God, I need coffee." Neither woman was surprised that Gibbs needed coffee, however they _were_ surprised that the agent had lasted his long without a caffeine fix.

The cab dropped Gibbs, Ms Hart and Ziva off in front of Abby's apartment building. Instead of heading into the building, Gibbs made a beeline toward the coffee shop at the corner of Abby's street. Ziva and Hart looked at each other. Finally Hart said "You go help the team. I'll take care of Gibbs."

As much as Ziva cringed at the 'take care of Gibbs' comment she knew she could help more in Abby's apartment than she could chasing Gibbs.

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He was sitting at a table next to the window in a small coffee shop just down the street from Abby's apartment building where he had a great view of the comings and goings at the building. About an hour ago DiNozzo entered the building with a woman, maybe a Metro PD detective. He thought he had seen her last night when he had hung around outside the building, hiding in the shadows just long enough to see Abby transported by ambulance to a hospital. He was a little disappointed that she had survived. Pretending to be her brother Luca, he had called the hospital earlier to find out what her condition was. A wave of satisfaction spread over him when he found out that she was in a coma in ICU.

His thoughts wandered to the evidence he planted that would point to Gibbs being the suspect, and if Abby was not conscious by now they should have arrested Special Agent in Charge Leroy Jethro Gibbs. A smug smile spread across his face. He unconsciously brushed his mustache with his finger as he stared out the window lost in thought. If it wasn't for Abby and the rest of Team Gibbs, he would never have been arrested and convicted, but he still blamed Abby most of all. As he was lost in thought, pretending to look at the City Paper unfolded in front of him, Gibbs walked into the shop. A slight panic spread over him, he feared that Gibbs would take one look and nab him right there, but then he recalled that his appearance was completely different from all those years ago, and Gibbs didn't notice insignificant things, so as long as he looked like he belonged and didn't do anything strange or suspicious, he should be fine.

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Gibbs walked into Abby's coffee shop. The Barista recognized him immediately, but was expecting his favorite customer to show up as well. "Coffee. Large. Just Coffee." He was used to the order. "And you, Ma'am?" he asked the familiar silver hair gentleman's companion. "Nothing, thanks," she answered. Gibbs, as was his usual behavior, checked out his surroundings. Everything seemed normal, except the guy at the table at the other side of the coffee shop. He seemed normal enough, but something about him bothered Gibbs. He memorized what the guy looked like, what he wore.

After taking the coffee and then taking gulps from it, he and Hart headed toward Abby's building. As they approached Abby's apartment, they could see Detective Hadley was just outside of it. Since the apartment was still considered a sealed crime scene, it made sense that MPD had someone there. As a courtesy, Sportelli had given the ok for the three agents, DiNozzo, McGee and David, to examine the scene, but he had given explicit orders that Gibbs not be allowed to enter the apartment.

When Gibbs got to Abby's apartment, Hadley was standing just inside the door. When Gibbs attempted to enter, she stopped him. "Agent Gibbs, you are still considered a person of interest in this investigation. I can't allow you to enter the apartment."

Gibbs glared at her. The worst glare she had ever experienced in her career. "You _what_?" Gibbs asked indignantly.

"I can't allow you to enter." Detective Hadley realized she needed to explain better. "I honestly don't think you were involved with hurting Abby, but Sportelli still thinks you are a prime suspect. I can't give you access to Abby's apartment as long as you are a suspect."

Gibbs continued to glare at her. Luckily M. Allison Hart was right there. "Agent Gibbs, I will make a few phone calls. You should have access to the apartment in a few minutes."

Gibbs continued to glare at Hadley.

Hadley was feeling a bit uncomfortable under the glare, but she was not about to stand down from her appointed duty.

"Hey Boss!" Tony saw Gibbs being detained by Hadley.

"Whatdya got, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, remaining just outside the apartment door.  
DiNozzo took a quick evaluation of the situation and realized that Hadley wasn't allowing Gibbs in. "Looks like the locks weren't picked, but it does look like the door was forced open. No indication that Abby had any visitors, but it does look like she threw things at someone. There is a large Caf-Pow on the floor over there," Tony turned and pointed to a large cup surrounded by a large puddle of liquid sitting next to the couch about a foot from the wall. We're still processing the scene and looking at what MPD may have overlooked."

Gibbs felt so helpless standing at Abby's door but not being allowed in. He was frustrated. "Good job DiNozzo." Gibbs encouraged. "Anything I can do here, without entering the crime scene?" Gibbs asked sarcastically, not expecting a valid answer from anyone.

"Uh, Boss?" DiNozzo asked.

"Yeah, Tony?" Gibbs asked after he stopped everything.

DiNozzo was hesitant to say anything, but knew he needed to include his boss and make him feel useful.  
"Why don't you check the video MPD has of the person they think is you."

It only took a few seconds of processing before Gibbs uttered "On it DiNozzo!"


End file.
